“You didn’t?” A slow flush worked its way up her neck and into her cheeks. “My grandfather’s funeral service was barely finished and there you were, making a serious effort to grope me. I don’t know what that was all about, but I didn’t appreciate it one bit.”

He shook his head rapidly. “I wasn’t trying to grope you exactly.”

“Yes, you were. Exactly. You might have done yourself some good, you know, if you’d stuck around to apologize afterward instead of running off.”

His laugh was forced. “I was running for my life. You just about took my head off.”

She stared at him, waiting. She knew how he felt about her, how he had always felt about her. She knew this was difficult for him and she wasn’t making it any easier. But his misguided attempt at an intimate relationship was strictly one-sided and she had to put a stop to it now or whatever was left of their friendship would go right out the window.

He took a deep breath. “I made a big mistake, and I’m sorry. I guess I just thought you needed … that you wanted someone to … Well, I just wasn’t thinking, that’s all.” He pushed back his long hair nervously. “I’m not so good at stuff like that, and you, well, you know how I feel …” He stopped and looked down at his feet. “It was stupid. I’m really sorry.”

She didn’t say anything, letting him dangle in the wind a little longer, letting him wonder. He looked up at her after a minute, meeting her gaze squarely for the first time. “I don’t know what else to say, Nest. I’m sorry. Are we still friends?”

Even though he had grown taller and gotten broader through the shoulders, she still saw him as being fourteen. There was a little-boy look and sound to him that she thought he might never entirely escape.

“Are we?” he pressed.

She gave him a considering look. “Yes, Robert, we are. We always will be, I hope. But we’re just friends, okay? Don’t try to make it into anything else. If you do, you’re just going to make me mad all over again.”

He looked doubtful, but nodded anyway. “Okay.” He glanced down again at the real estate papers. “Are you going to sell the house?”

“Robert!”

“Well, that’s what it looks like.”

“I don’t care what it looks like, it’s none of your business!” Irritated at herself for being so abrupt, she added, “Look, I haven’t decided anything yet.”

He put his coffee cup in the exact center of the papers, making a ring. “I don’t think you should sell.”

She snatched the cup away. “Robert …”

“Well, I don’t. I think you should let some time pass before you do anything.” He held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Wait, let me finish. My dad says you should never make any big changes right after someone you love dies. You should wait at least a year. You should give yourself time to grieve, to let everything settle so you know what you really want. I don’t think he’s right about much, but I think he might be right about this.”